REVIEW: Like Father, Like Symbiote in VENOM #1
In Venom #1 by Al Ewing, Ram V, Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie, Alex Sinclair, and Clayton Cowles, the foundations for the next chapter in the ongoing saga of Venom are unveiled! In this extra-long issue, we see plenty of important setup for what’s next for Venom… and it seems like it will be entirely tied up in two generations of Brocks!
Venom #1. Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
Venom #1
You may remember some of the elements that play into this issue from the 2021 Spider-Man/Venom Free Comic Book Day issue!
FCBD vibes. Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
This issue had lots of interesting symbiote action, both here on Earth and in the distant cosmos. While I did not read the King in Black series (which set up much of Eddie’s current status quo), I was still able to follow along well enough.
Dylan tells the symbiote that they aren’t his father. Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
Likewise, while this is my introduction to Dylan Brock, Eddie’s long-hidden son, I was still able to pick up the story and enjoy it with minimal background. This is partially due to the fact that the father-son relationship is handled so well in this issue that you don’t really need to have any other background to care about the two characters!
I liked the Venom art (and I think there’s some huge potential for action sequences as this book continues).
Venom in a full-page spread! Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
I was also a huge fan of the sequence in which Eddie attempted to send him mind forward in time. First of all, it was a reasonable attempt – he can travel in space using the symbiotes, why not through time? They are, after all, inextricably linked. Plus, the experience is described as being something like being “unstuck in time,” which I am going to consider a reference to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s Slaughterhouse-Five, one of the greatest novels ever written. Plus, bringing in Kang for a cameo appearance on this page was a nice touch!
Symbiote Special
What did you think of the first issue of this new run of Venom? Will you be returning to your local comic shop (LCS) to pick up the next issue? Did you manage to pick up one of the amazing variant covers (like the awesome one by Peach Momoko)?
Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.
We want to know what you think! Let us know in the comment section, Marvel Blog True Believers.
